Schlonging the Dragon: Three Essays To Get You Into B-School

If you want to go to business school you can write an essay which details every certificate you ever earned or every piece of paper you once shuffled. You could spend six months crafting something with many caveats and weasel words about what you did.

Alternatively, you could learn to tell a story. Compelling tales capture the imagination in ways that simply listing a series of events cannot. Here are three examples. In the first two cases, you will need to adapt the narrative to your specific work situation. Shoehorn your story into these templates.

The third essay is self explanatory and probably not applicable to most people.

Essay 1.

Dear Sir/Madam,

A year ago I was minding my own business when a dragon laid siege to my home town. It was a devilish beast and barely a week went by without it snatching an innocent citizen from the streets. Occasionally, it would swoop down and burn our crops or set a house on fire.

This terrible situation went on for a few months and the town’s leaders did nothing to combat the scourge. That’s when my girlfriend persuaded me to step up and go fight the beast. At first, I was reluctant as I had no experience fighting dragons, who does?

Still, something had to be done. So I suited up in a second hand set of armor, borrowed a horse, a lance and other weapons. I then set off to the dragon’s lair. I smelled the stench of death coming from the dragon before I even saw it. But as soon as I set eyes on it, I dug my heels into the sides of my war horse and charged at the dragon.

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Constable is an economics/financial markets commentator. Currently, he writes the monthly “In Translation” column for The Wall Street Journal, and a weekly investments column for U.S. News & World Report. He also contributes regularly to Barron’s, TheStreet, Fortune, Forbes.com and other publications.
Prior to becoming a full-time economics journalist/commentator Constable worked in a variety of strategy/advisor roles for major corporations.
His first book, The WSJ Guide to the 50 Economic Indicators that Really Matter, won an economics category award in the 2012 Small Business Book Awards at Small Business Trends. It has been translated into multiple languages. He authored the Rudolf Wolff mini-guides to the London Metal Exchange, and the Real Money Guide to Investing in Gold.